The first half of the Carolina League season came to a close on Sunday night as the Carolina Mudcats lost to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans 7-5. The Mudcats lost for the 11th time in 12 games to bring their first half record to 22-48.

The Mudcats offense continues to hit the cover off the ball. Unfortunately, it's rarely with runners in scoring position, and rarely makes much of a difference in the overall scheme of things. The Mudcats pitching continues to dive into mudholes, and runners continue to get stranded. Join Jim Pete as he goes fishing for those missing runs.

Left-handed Shawn Morimando has enjoyed a successful first half of the season at High-A Carolina. With the All Star break here, the IBI's Jacqueline Kantor had a chance to catch up with him to see how his first half went and what adjustments he has been working on that have helped him improve this season.

It was business as usual down on the farm for the Indians on Saturday night. Cord Phelps remained hot, Lonnie Chisenhall is making it very difficult for the Indians to keep him in Columbus, and more. The IBI's Michal Hattery chimes in with his thoughts on the action in the minors.

The Carolina Mudcats lost the third game in a five-game series against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, 10-7, at TicketReturn.com Field Friday night. The Mudcats bullpen struggled with multiple hit batters and right-hander Michael Peoples (0-1) took the loss for Carolina.

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans scored three unearned runs in the third inning, and held on for a 3-1 Friday night victory over the Carolina Mudcats at TicketReturn.com Field. The win was the Pelicans' ninth straight over the Mudcats (21-45). Myrtle Beach (37-28) held their lead in the Southern Division over Winston-Salem with the win.

Despite being on the road, the Columbus Clippers and Akron Aeros got caught in the rain much like the rest of Northeast Ohio, seeing their games cancelled. The Carolina Mudcats and Lake County Captains were in action, though they did not provide much in the way of highlights. Despite the light night, one Carolina pitcher continued his recent push of success and up the prospect ladder. To find out who he is and all you need to know about the night in the minor leagues, join Jim Piascik and go Around The Farm.

After the copious amount of draft coverage on the site over the last two weeks, it is time to get things back on track and back to normal. That means catching up on the Happenings in the minor leagues. In today’s only edition of Minor Happenings this week, Tony gets us caught up on a few things and talks about the strides lefty Shawn Morimando is making and the consistency that Cody Anderson is showing in Carolina. He also provides several comments from Ross Atkins on the significant delivery adjustment Trevor Bauer is making, how Lonnie Chisenhall looks in Columbus, talks of a position change for Chun Chen, and tons more.

As we near mid-June, we can begin to look back at some horrible early-season performances and what players have brought their stats up to a respectable level. Some of it will be simple regression, but sometimes there is something more, maybe a tweak to a batting stance or changing where you stand on the rubber. Two shortstops both made adjustments earlier in the season and are enjoying much better results in June. A coincidence? Maybe. But most importantly, things look good now. To find out who these players are and all you need to know about Wednesday in the minor leagues, join Jim Piascik and go Around The Farm.

A high scoring duel left the Carolina Mudcats in defeat Wednesday night at Five County Stadium. After several rallies, victorious comeback hits, and slack errors, the Potomac Nationals ultimately won the game 13-11. The Mudcats finished the game with 11 runs on 16 hits with 2 errors while the Nationals prevailed with 13 runs on 17 hits with 2 errors. Right-handed pitcher Mason Radeke took the loss for the Mudcats, tossing 2 innings and allowing six runs on six hits.

ZEBULON – After rain postponed the series opener, the Carolina Mudcats and Potomac Nationals played a double header on Tuesday. Carolina broke their six-game losing streak with an 11-3 victory in game one, but dropped game two 3-1 to split the doubleheader. Both games were seven innings.

Manager David Wallace needs a big bucket, as his fishin' boat is starting to take on water...and a lot of it. The Mudcats could only muster up a 1-6 record with only two weeks left in the first half of the season. The Muddies are firmly in the Mud, with the worst record in the Carolina League. Luckily, lefty Shawn Morimando showcased some southpaw hope for the future. Join Jim Pete as he helps bail out Wallace and the Muddies with his weekly report.

The Carolina Mudcats gave up a two-run lead in the seventh inning and allowed four runs in the top of the tenth to lose to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, 8-4, at Five County Stadium Saturday. This was Carolina’s seventh consecutive loss to the Pelicans and the second in a three-game series.

For the second straight night, the Wilmington Blue Rocks surged ahead by five, only to hold on for a 6-4 win against the Carolina Mudcats. Carolina (20-39) finished with two wins in their seven-game road trip. Cody Anderson (5-3) tossed his shortest outing of the year for the Mudcats, allowing four runs on six hits in only three innings of work. It was the first time in 12 starts that the right-hander failed to make it through five.

On a night where all the attention is on the MLB draft and new addition to the Cleveland organization Clint Frazier, there was still plenty of action throughout the minor leagues. Not all was good -- Carlos Carrasco was scratched from his start -- but some, like Akron finishing a sweep, was. The focus from Thursday is on an IBI favorite, however, who simply catches our collective attention. To find out who he is and all you need to know from Thursday in the minor leagues, join Jim Piascik and go Around The Farm.

Baseball is a game of adjustments. The pitcher decides to throw a curveball after the batter hit his last fastball for a home run; a batter moves up in the box expecting an off-speed pitch; a shortstop moves toward second base because the batter has a knack for hitting the ball right back up the middle; any of these little shifts can change the outcome of a game. Sometimes players make big adjustments and it seems to lead to a breakthrough. To find out who might have made such a breakthrough and all you need to know about Wednesday in the minor leagues, join Jim Piascik and go Around The Farm.

After falling behind early and attempting to claw back into it, the Carolina Mudcats couldn’t complete the rally as they fell to the Wilmington Blue Rocks 6-4 on Wednesday night. With the loss, Carolina fell a season-high 18 games under .500 at 20-38. Making his fifth start of the season with Carolina, starting pitcher Nick Pasquale started strong but struggled towards the end of his start.

WILMINGTON – A second straight strong outing by a Mudcats starting pitcher wasn't enough as the Carolina Mudcats fell to the Wilmington Blue Rocks 3-1 on Tuesday night. With the loss, Carolina falls to 20-37 on the season.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!